Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Trip to AMSE Grossology

It wasn't a program. It was a room full of interactive games. There was also a climbing wall that was supposed to look like skin. Kids were supposed to climb from the scab to the mole to the wart etc. There was a video game cabinet that had "Urine, the Game" written on it. Josie played it. The object of the game is to make sure the right things pass out with the urine. She made sure the sugar and the red blood cells stayed in the system. There was a giant animatronic talking faucet in a bathrobe with a perpetually dripping nose. We learned a lot of interesting things about mucus from him. I couldn't bring myself to play the Guess the Smell game. I saw the buttons to push though. One of them said "anus". Also we learned a bit about the process that causes one to vomit. If you push the buttons for brain, stomach, esophagus, and mouth in order, the cartoon character will blow chunks and the lucky kid recieves a standing ovation. The burp-maker was neat. Pump enough soda-pop into the inbred hick and he will burp for you. Pump some more and he will let out a long screaming fart. Very educational.

Also met some cool, down-to earth, homeschooling moms and their very pleasant children.

We're Going to Grossology

We'll be meeting a bunch of other homeschoolers there hopefully. I'll report back and tell you how it went. I may not actually watch the program though. I'm not much into gross.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Statue in My Yard

Why is St. Joseph so dirty? I didn't know this because I'm a Lutheran, but apparently Jesus' earthly father was a really good realtor. If you bury a statue of him upside-down in your yard and pray really hard your house will sell. St. Joseph (here with baby Jesus) was buried head- first in my front yard, and Jake found him this evening. The Catholic people sold the house to some Evangelicals in September of 2004, in June of 2005 the Evangelicals sold it to us. So it turned around twice within a year. I sure am glad that Jake found it and dug it up because I'm not interested in moving for a very long time.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

My Latest Portrait

The requests for portraits really aren't rolling in this year, but that's okay. I can really take my time and enjoy them.

Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Time for our yearly Charlie Brown Thanksgiving meal! We highly recommend on the night before Thanksgiving, gathering around the big screen in your jammies, preferably with a couple of little friends, and watching everyone's good buddy Chuck, while feasting on jelly beans, popcorn, toast, and pretzels. Get out and buy it now if you don't already have it! Turkey day comes only once a year, and you have to wait until Christmas to truly appreciate the next Charlie Brown Special.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Wii

It's another gadget. But I may like it. Josie is jumping around here and playing tennis. They also bowled a little. Dad was boxing. I was thinking they should come up with foot controllers that were in ankle weights, and wrist weights with controllers as well. Then you could do cardio kick boxing, dancing, savat, karate etc... No one steal my idea. This blog is dated November 19, 2006. Haha.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

The $16,000 Annual Screw Private School Travel Fund

I was talking to someone last night who sent her kids to private school all the way through. I'm sure the private schools around here are better, but it's still a sterile learning environment where children sit in a classroom and absorb information. Even hands-on learning is pretty staged for lack of a better word. Kids learn about many things by assembling crafts and collecting items etc. Of course there are sports and social activities that a kid can't just happen upon without being on a school team too. So private school is a good thing overall, but is it worth $16,000 a year to send two kids to the Episcopal School? Is it possible to spend $16,000 in a more creative, fun, and educational way?

I've been surfing around for educational travel ideas for families this morning. Here are some exciting ways to spend that money.

We could take an eco-trip to Barbados for three days and nights where we can go whale-watching, see green monkeys (whatever they are), take a helicopter tour of the flower forests, go walking on nature trails, see waterfalls, and stay in a historical inn. All together that costs about $5000 including roud trip airfare. That would be a biggie, but we still haven't spent our $16,000 kitty. Yes, they can do their math on the plane or something. They can also journal what they've seen before they go to bed, and send letters to the friends and family about their adventures. They can learn all about Barbados and the islands before they go. It's nature, history, culture, etc.

On our next trip, we could drive to Chicago and stay with some charitable relatives, then depart later on an Amtrak train called the California Zephyr, which will take us through the most beautiful country-side in America. We can see mountains, prairies, lakes and wildlife, as we travel (somewhat uncomfortably for sure, in a family room) 34 hours to Salt Lake City where we can rent a vehicle and travel to Yellowstone National Park. During the travel portion of the trip, we can read about Teddy Roosevelt the great conservationist, study about rock formations, and the animals of Yellowstone, and we can take along our National Parks Coloring Book, oh, and suffer through a little more math (we must learn to carry that 1, you know) Once we get to Yellowstone, we'll stay at the Bar-N-Ranch in a one-room cabin for five days and do all there is to see and do for five days. We return on a flight from Salt Lake City. The whole trip costs about $4000. We still have $7000 left in our SPS Travel Fund.

Trip number three lasts one month. After purchasing and sttudying the books Road Trip USA: Cross Country Adventures on America's 2 Lane Highways, Little Museums: Over 1,000 Small and Not So Small American Showplaces, and Watch It Made in the USA: A Visitors Guide to the Companies that Make Your Favorite Products, we'll chart a course that we can follow in a rented standard RV. The RV rental is about $4500 with a $500 deposit. I'm sure the extra $2000 will come in handy as spending money, because we will be touring factories, hiking trails, walking museums, etc.

Those three trips used up about $16,000. I'm sure there are extra costs involved in all of these vacations, but I'm certain that there are also extra costs involved in sending two kids to a nice private school. That's just one year's tuition too. Imagine a stay-at-home-mom, who is fortunate enough to have that kind of money available planning travels like these for her kids for 12 years, instead of paying for a private education?

I doubt I would ever spend 16,000 a year travelling about with my kids, but once upon a time I enrolled both my kids in private school. It wasn't the Episcopal School, and it was half the price, but I could blog for you what I could to with $9000 in educational travelling expenses if you'd like.

(Hmmm. Do we really need that kitchen remodel?)

Monday, November 13, 2006

Neat Montessori Math Game



The game goes up to nine. I'll try it with them tomorrow. Maybe the rhyming will help them remember. I usually have to get out a calculator after I get above 6. So maybe it will help me too.

I Promise Promise Promise....part 2

Okay. Maybe I'll just try to post something when I can.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Fitness Update

Well, my persistent sore neck has cleared up a bit. Perhaps due to Dharma's warning that if I didn't quit whining she would take me in for a lumbar puncture. Loads of energy right now, and now maybe I could start running, since my nose isn't.

Rat Salad

Josie made a salad for the rats. It's snap peas, mozarella, pineapples, and grapes. She made a little hole in the box she salvaged from our recent flooring project and set the ramekin in it.
They seemed to like it.
Max liked it so much his eyes went opposite directions.

Back to the Lessons

Last night I bought a National Geographic Magazine. Not the one for kids. First thing this morning, Josie got up and read all about leopard seals, horseshoe crabs, debutantes in hoop skirts in Laredo, TX, and the discovery of an ancient hominid child's skeleton. She absorbed the whole thing. That covered reading, science, and social studies all in one swipe and she didn't even know it. And she didn't even hate it. I sat down and did some math with Jake, and then he read and I taught him how to write a book report. His handwriting has gotten a lot better and he's been adding swirls and curls to things just for fun. Josie also practiced her cursive by copying sentences that I wrote about what she had read in the National Geographic. Her kid's National Geographic is expiring this month, I may go ahead and get her a subscription to the regular one and I can enjoy it too.

Friday, November 03, 2006

OOH! Mom! Look at all the pine needles!


"Yes Josie. We can give those away to the next door neighbors!"

So I asked the Eskimo, "Would you care for a free bowl of snow?"


They have a retail location. It's a bit run down, but it's a start-up operation.

They know how to advertise.


They just don't know the laws of supply and demand.
(Time for that lesson in basic economics.)

I Promise Promise Promise....

I will post something every day. I've been slacking as of late in the writing department...but I would have to WRITE about what a slacker homeschooling mom I've been lately and that wouldn't be very brag or blog-worthy, now would it?